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These phrases meaning plz

Posted by Bob on May 03, 2003

In Reply to: These phrases meaning plz posted by R. Berg on May 03, 2003

: : hello,
: : I would like to know the meaning for these phrases if possible. Thank you.

: : 1)take on the whole world at once
: : 2)scale down to size
: : 3)look down on yes people
: : 4)stick to your guns
: : 5)run off the road
: : 6)put into perspective
: : 7)works his tail off
: : 8)darted off to
: : 9)hard to pin down
: : 10)come to terms with

: I'll answer a few of these--the ones for which I can easily think up a clear explanation.

: 1. In the context of taking on the world, "take on" means to engage in combat with, as a champion boxer takes on a challenger in a boxing match. "At once" means simultaneously rather than serially. So "take on the whole world at once" means to fight with everybody at the same time.

: 3. "Look down on yes people" = have a poor opinion of people who agree unthinkingly with whatever the boss says.

: 4. "Stick to your guns" = steadfastly maintain your beliefs, your demands, and so forth despite challenges to them from someone else.

: 6. "Put into perspective" = think clearly about something so that you assign it the importance it deserves and no more.

: 7. "Tail" is slang for buttocks. To work one's tail off simply means to work very hard.

: 8. "He darted off to Paris," for instance, means that he left where he was and traveled quickly to Paris.

: 9. "Hard to pin down" = hard to identify; vague.

: 10. "Come to terms with" = accept; come to understand.

2. Scale down to size means to reduce something proportionally to fit a (more convenient/more workable) size. If you have a document for example,, too large to copy on a standard piece of paper, you can scale it ( at, for example, 75%) to make it fit your page.
5.Run off the road means to drive off the pavement (if you do it yourself) or it can mean to dirve in a manner that forces someone else to leave the pavement.

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